The agreement that all departments reached in 2013 was that there would be:
- A maintenance of the basic caps at 30.
- Special "prestige" medals at 50 (L), 100 (C) and 200 (CC)
Later that year bigWham took over the site. Somebody, whether inadvertently or by design, whispered in his ear that the 30 cap was supposed to be lifted, and told him nothing about the all-department agreement that had been reached. So, he went ahead and lifted the cap, and overnight it became possible to issue medals in excess of the limit.
The tournament directors policed themselves and abided by the 2013 agreement, even though it was technically possible to break it now. The clan directors did not, and immediately began issuing medals in excess of the 30 cap.
The inherent injustice is stunningly obvious. Clan wars are a 50/50 proposition. Half of all the people involved will get a medal. Tournaments, even the smallest ones, are at the very best a 1/8 proposition. In a very small 8-team tourney, one of the 8-teams will get medals. The smallest individual tournament is 16-player, so one of 16 players will get a medal. But many tournaments are far bigger than that -- 25, 40, 60, 64-player tournaments are common, and 100, 128 player tournaments, and even bigger tournaments have existed. If you're in a 64-player tournament, you have a 1/64 chance to win a medal, while somebody comes along for the ride in a clan war, boom, easy medal, next.
It really burns my skin that the easiest medals to get on the site (for coming along in a clan war. Make no mistake -- there may be some hard work involved in a clan war, but the typical member does none of it. He just joins the games he's told to join and doesn't have to do anything else) are more plentiful than the most difficult medals to get on the site (having to win a tournament, not just come along for the ride.)
It's just so obscene. To "earn" clan medals you literally don't have to do anything. All you have to do is be smart enough (as I was) to join a clan that wins more often than it loses, and wait for the medals to roll in. Your clan leaders will put you in some games. If you have no clue how to play, no problem. Someone will tell you. Hell, they'll even take your turns for you if you let them.
Compare that to a tournament, where you have to win games on your own merit, with nobody to help you, and you have to win more than anyone else in a very large field.
The clan department's wilful ignorance of the 2013 agreement is now a
fait accompli. There are dozens of people who have gotten medals in excess of the limit. Rescinding them at this point would result in massive backlash. So, it's done. The illegal medals will stand. The only question now is what to do about it.
For three years, I've been a good chimp, stuck to the Team CC credo of maintaining a unified front in the forums, and kept my comments about this behind the scenes. It's gotten me absolutely nowhere. I guess three years is enough. This is out in the open now, so let's have it out.
I don't think about this issue all that often, but whenever I do, I feel like quitting CC. There are a lot of problems on CC, but this is the only one that makes me feel that dark feeling inside where I just want to shut it down and walk away from this site forever. It's just such a despicable injustice. Every single time I think about this issue I come close to quitting, it's only about twice a year, but it's very dark.
Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 3:11 pm
